Tom, a young, poor peasant ,woke up extra early by hunger pangs in his one room, thatched roof hut he called home. He slowly scanned the room to see his precious family still fast asleep. They consisted of his supportive wife and five wonderful children.
Tom was under a tremendous amount of financial pressure. Their small farm did not produce enough ro feed so many mouths. He discussed it with his wife the night before and she agreed. He would travel to the nearest village to see what he could find there. He wondered, “Would he find relief? a job? hope? Encouragement?”
Tom was a good guy. He would always stay true to his high morals no matter what circumstances he found himself in.
He began his journey on the path to the village. When he was about halfway there the summer sun had become unbearable and he decided to take a short break in the shade of a large oak tree.He began to lie down when he noticed a very large rock directly in the center of the parh. This was causing everyone to leave the path by going around the obstacle.
Tom tried to get fellow travelers to help him remove the rock from the path. They all had the same answer, “We’ve no time for that. Let someone else do it.”
Someone else did do it. You guessed it. It was Tom. It took him a while before he was finally able to push it aside. When he turned to look at where it had been he saw a letter lying on the ground where the rock had previously been. It read:
Dear citizen of the kingdom. Many people have passed this way. Not one of them has chosen to remove the obstacle which in turn would have improved the kingdom. Instead they chose to walk around it. This shows me they are more concerned about themselves then they are about others.
However, you have chosen to spend your time and energy to improve the kingdom and help others. Your reward is found in the the ground directly beneath where the letter had been.
Signed, the King. Tom dropped to his knees and began shoveling dirt with his bare hands as fast as he could. He unearthed three bags of gold. The largest smile swept across his face as he realized his family would now be taken care of.
Tom was under a tremendous amount of financial pressure. Their small farm did not produce enough ro feed so many mouths. He discussed it with his wife the night before and she agreed. He would travel to the nearest village to see what he could find there. He wondered, “Would he find relief? a job? hope? Encouragement?”
Tom was a good guy. He would always stay true to his high morals no matter what circumstances he found himself in.
He began his journey on the path to the village. When he was about halfway there the summer sun had become unbearable and he decided to take a short break in the shade of a large oak tree.He began to lie down when he noticed a very large rock directly in the center of the parh. This was causing everyone to leave the path by going around the obstacle.
Tom tried to get fellow travelers to help him remove the rock from the path. They all had the same answer, “We’ve no time for that. Let someone else do it.”
Someone else did do it. You guessed it. It was Tom. It took him a while before he was finally able to push it aside. When he turned to look at where it had been he saw a letter lying on the ground where the rock had previously been. It read:
Dear citizen of the kingdom. Many people have passed this way. Not one of them has chosen to remove the obstacle which in turn would have improved the kingdom. Instead they chose to walk around it. This shows me they are more concerned about themselves then they are about others.
However, you have chosen to spend your time and energy to improve the kingdom and help others. Your reward is found in the the ground directly beneath where the letter had been.
Signed, the King. Tom dropped to his knees and began shoveling dirt with his bare hands as fast as he could. He unearthed three bags of gold. The largest smile swept across his face as he realized his family would now be taken care of.
